Good Life Tour of the HarnBy: miguel Arroyo-Green

Technique of the Artist

The image that I picked was The Jefferson Market Courthouse by Francis Criss. This image I found very striking for its use of colors and perspective. This image is an oil on canvas and this allowed the artist Criss to use very vivid reds and beige to make the building in the image standout from the background. Artist also uses preservative in his art to focus our attention on the building. What this piece showed me about art is that it allows artist to present real life objects and use color and preservative to change how we see things in our environment.

Design of the Museum

For this part I decided to use the zen garden outside of the Asian pottery exhibit. I like this section since it helped me better understand the nature themes showed in many of the pieces and really tied the exhibit together for me. It helped me reflect on the themes of being one with nature and balance showed in the art. Without it I would not have internalized what I looked at as much as I did in the exhibit.

Art and Core Values

The piece that pick for this section was by Rafael Tufiño called Cortador de caña this piece appeals to my core value of hard work and is from the place that I was born. This piece really helped me appreciate the hard work that many of family members had to endure in order to make a living. I think that the artist does an amazing job of not glorifying if, but showing it as my grandparents explained it. It was backbreaking work that was often done in hot, humid fields of sugar cane. This piece really helped me appreciate hard work and the labors that my family had to put in order to live a Good Life.

Art and the Good Life

The piece that I chose to represent the Good Life was a vase done by Magdalene Odundo a Kenyian that studied art in the Untied Kingdom. The piece it self was done using traditional African techniques, which means that it was done without a spinning wheel or other sculpting tools. Making the piece was very difficult since she had to only use her hands to make sturdy vase that was also smooth, clean, and proportional. I pick this piece to represent the Good life since it reflects the hard work an individual puts into a work and the importance of honoring where we came from. Odundo did not have to use traditional methods to make the vase put doing so she was able to gain a better understanding of what her people go through in making these vases. The vase also shows how something as simple as a vase can represent the struggles and culture of the people that make them.